'Hansen's Sno-Bliz' on Serious Eats

Shaved ice in Louisiana is a simple affair of ice and flavored syrup, yet not just any shaved ice joint can produce a cone as fine as Hansen's on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans. Hansen's stainless steel ice-shaving machine is the key to its success. This beast yields shavings of ice as light as snowflakes, finer than any I have tasted before. More

Yesterday, we gave you our price-no-object recommendations for New Orleans eats. But one of the many great things about this city—you don't have to spend much to eat well. If you're looking to keep your vacation costs down, here's a guide to serious eats on the cheap: oysters, drinks, and all. More

Editor's note: Occasionally what looks at first glance to be a conventional guidebook transcends the genre in surprising ways. John T. Edge's Southern Belly is just such a read, which is why I'm pleased that he has allowed us to excerpt selected items from it on Serious Eats, where they appear every other week. —Ed Levine By John T. Edge | According to the Roman calendar, summer begins in June. Try to tell that to a native of subtropical New Orleans. When it comes to marking the seasons down here, calendars don't count for much. Instead, locals with a sweet tooth will tell you that summer arrives on the Saturday after Easter, when Hansen's Sno Bliz throws open its screen... More